Chart-recording meter



0a. 6,1925. MAURER 1,555,868

CHART RECORDING METER Filad June 20 192 Patented Oct. 6, 1925.

UNITED STATES FRANZ MAURER, OF ZUG, SWITZERLAND.

CHART-RECORDING METER.

Application filed June 20, 1922. Serial No. 569,715.

To all 20. mm it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANZ MAURER. a citizen of the Swiss Confederation, residing at Zug. in the Canton of Zug, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Chart-Recording Meters. of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The invention relates to means for returning the recording device to its zero position only if. during one or more successive registration periods no consumption whatsoever has been recorded. Fig. 1 of the accompanying drawing is a front elevation of one form of the invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation and Fig. 3 is a detail of same. Fig. 4 represents a second form of the invention seen in front elevation, and Fig. shows the same in side elevation. Fig. 6 shows a detail.

In the form shown in Figs. 1-3 there are two supports 2 fixed to a plate 1. These supports carry the upper drum 3 which 1s removable. The chart 4, on which the consumption is to be recorded is wound initially on the drum 3, and passes under the rollers 5. The chart is wound from the drum 3 on to the drum 6 which is provided with a ring of taper pins 7 which engage with the holes 8 in the chart 4. The feeding of the chart is effected, as described later, by means of a pawl 11 carried by the lever 10, this pawl working with a ratchet wheel 9 mounted on the drum 4 thus advancing the chart.

The cross plate 12 mounted on the supports 2, carries a stud 13 which is arranged to lie exactly above the centre line of the chart. On this stud 13 is freely mounted a ratchet segment 15 and a toothed segment 14. The toothed segment 14 is normally in mesh with a pinion 16 which is integral with a crown-wheel 17 and is carried by a lever 18. The crown wheel 17 is in mesh with a pinion 19 driven by the meter. The toothed segment 14 is provided with a stop 20 which works in conjunction with an arm 21 mounted on the ratchet segment 15. The arm 21 carries at its free end a recording device 22 consisting of an ink-reservoir provided with a fine opening where it touches the chart. The ratchet segment is normally locket by the pawl 23 which also serves as armature for the relay 24. The coil spring 25 tends to pull the toothed seg ment towards the stop 26 and the coil spring 27 tends to hold the arm 21 against the stop 20. The spring 25 pulls the toothed segment 14 in one direction. The movement of said segment in the reverse direction is limited by the stop 28.

The cam 29, which turns on a pin mouut ed on the plate 1, is driven by the spring barrel 32 of a clockwork 37 through the gears and 31. The clockwork is rewound by means of an electric motor 33 working through the gears 34, 35 and 36. A looking device 38 prevents the motor from running backwards under the action of the clociespring. The going of the clockwork is regulated by a lever escapement 39 which is in connection with the spring barrel through the wheels 40 and 41.

The four levers 42, 43, 44 and 45 rest at one end on the cam 29. The lever 42 is pivoted at its opposite end on a pin 46 mounted on the plate 1, and carries the lever 43 by means of a pin 47. The lever 43 is normally in line with lever 42, and, at the end remote from the cam, it carries a rod 48 connected to the lever 49. The levers 49 and 18 are together mounted on a spindle 50 and the end of the lever 49 is connected to the feed lever 10 by a rod 51. the coil spring 52 keeps the end of the lever 42 which rests on the cam 29 in constant contact with same.

At the end remote from the cam the lever 44 is pivoted on a lug 53 fixed to the plate 1, and carries the lever 45 on a pin 54, in a similar manner to lever 42. One end of the lever 45 is kept pressed against the cam by acoil spring 55, and the other end carries an insulating pin 56. The pin 56 presses against a flat spring 57 which carries a contact pin 58. The contact pin 58 works in conjunction with a contact blade 59 which is connected by the conductor 60 to the relay 24. In addition to the relay 24 there is also an electric motor 33 in circuit with the contacts58 and 59.

In their normal positions the levers 42 45 all lie parallel to one another, and the axes of the pins 47 and 54 form one straight line. The ends of the levers resting on the cam 29 project over same by different amounts, the lever 42 having the greatest projection and the lever 45 the least.

Assuming the recording device to be in the position shown in Fig. 1 at the commencement of a new registration period the face joining the highest and lowest points on the cam passes under the free end of the lever 45 with the result that the latter is immediately pulled down on to the lowest point of the cam 29 by the coil spring 55. As the lever 45 turns on the pin 54, the insulating pin 56, which, up to this moment has kept the contacts 58 and 59 open, is raised and the circuit of the electric motor 33 and the relay 24 is closed when the contact pin 58 touches the blade 59. Consequently the armature 23 of the relay 24 is attracted, and the arm 21 is released and allowed to turn under the action of the spring 27 towards its zero position until arrested by the stop 20, which, during the interval between the end of the last and the beginning of the present registration period has been driven by the meter through the intermediary of the parts 19, 17, 16 and 14. At the same time the recording device 22 marks the consumption in the form of a curve. In the meantime the electric motor has rewound the clockwork.

As the cam 29 continues to turn, the free end of the lever 44 drops from the highest to the lowest point on the cam, thus causing the pin 54 and also the insulating pin to drop, whereupon the pin 56 interrupts the circuit closed by the contacts of 58 and 59. In consequence the ratchet segment 15 is again locked and the electric motor comes to a stop.

As the cam 29 turns still further the lever 43 drops from the highest to the lowest point on the cam, and, pivoting about the pin 47, under the action of the spring 52, lifts the rod 48, thus turning the spindle 50 and raising the lever 18 so that the pinion 16 disengages from the toothed segment 14, which is thus uncoupled from the meter. The spring 25 now turns the segment 14 until same is arrested by the stop 26, and the stop 20 returns to its initial position. Due to the turning of the spindle 50 the feedlever 10 is caused to descend by the rod 51. Further rotation of the cam 29 causes the lever 42 to drop from the highest to the lowest point on the cam, and as a result the pin 47 and the rod 48 are pulled down by the spring 52. Thus the pinion 16 again engages with the toothed segment 14, and the feed-lever 10 is lifted, whereupon the chart is advanced by means of the pawl 11.

If now, during the following registration period the consumption exceeds that reached during the period described, the stop 20 after reaching the arm 21 advances same in the direction of the arrow 61 until the maximum value of the current period is reached. The arm 21 is then prevented from returning by the pawl 23.

In the second form of the invention, as shown in Figs. 4-6 the parts 111, together with the parts 1619, 23 and 24, 42- 47 and 52-59 are identical with those employed in the first form. The only difference is that the feed-lever 10 is so modified in this form as to form the armature of the relay 62, and the lever 18' acts as armature of the relay 63. These two relays 62 and 63 are connected in series, and are arranged in a circuit controlled by the contact device 64 and 65 by means of the levers 42 and 43, in the same way as the circuit controlled by the contacts 58 and 59 and the levers 44 and 45. In the latter circuit, as in the first form of the invention, are connected a relay 24 and an electric motor, these parts not being represented in the drawing.

The armature 23 of the relay 24 acts as a pawl in conjunction with a ratchet wheel 66 which is integral with a disc 67. A thin wire 68 is led over the disc 67 and passes above the chart 4 to an opposite disc 69. The two weights 70 and 71 tend to keep the wire taut. The weight 70 on the side of the disc 69 being heavier than the weight 71 tends to draw the recording device 72, which is attached to the wire 68, towards its initial position near the disc 69.

Parallel to and near the wire 68 is ar-' ranged a second wire 73 which is attached to the disc 74 and led over the disc 75. To this end of the wire 73 is attached a weight 76. The wire 73 passes between the stops 79 and carries a driver 77 which is provided with a lug embracing the wire 68. The disc 74 is integral with a toothed wheel 80 in mesh with a pinion 16.

In operation, if now, at the end of a r istration period, the position of the reco ing device 72 and the driver 77 corresponds to that represented in Fig. 4, as in the first form of the invention the falling of the lever 45 from the highest point of the cam causes the circuit of the relay 24 to be closed by the contacts 58 and 59, and the pawl 23 releases the ratchet wheel 66. The weight 70 (which is heavier than the weight 76) now pulls the recording device 72 towards its initial position until it is arrested by the driver 77, which has been carried to its present position by the meter. By this movement the recording device marks the consumption on the chart. When the lever 44 drops from the highest point of the cam 29, the ratchet wheel 66 is again locked. When the following lever 43 drops from the highest point of the cam 29, the circuit in which the relays 62 and 63 are connected is closed by the contacts 64 and 65, the feed-lever 10 is attached. and the chart 4 is advanced. At the same time the lever 18 is raised, thus causing the pinion 16 to disengage from the toothed wheel 80, and the driver 77 is uncoupled from the meter. The weight 76 now pulls the driver 77, against the retarding action of a torsion spring 81, to the left until it reaches its initlal position close to the stops 79. The cam 29 continuing to turn allows the lever 42 t fall from its highest position, thus causing the contacts 64 and 65 to be separated, the circuit to be broken, and the driven 77 to be once more coupled to the meter, whilst the feed-lever 10 is lowered.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is 1. In a chart recording meter means driven by the measuring instrument and thrown in and out of action mechanically, means producing the return of the recording device to its zero position only it. during one or more registration periods, there has been no consumption whatsoever, and an electrically operated locking device which is tripped after the means mechanically thrown in and out of action have been actuated according to the consumption during the current period.

2. In a chart recording meter, two con trolling devices consisting of a common cam driven by a clockwork, and two pairs of levers, one lever of each pair being pivoted on a fixed pin and carrying the second lever balanced, of which controlling devices one is connected by a rod and a lever to the drive of a moving stop which is driven, against the action f a spring, by a gear which can be uncoupled from the measuring element. said controlling device being also connected to a feed-lever which intermittently advances a chart on which the recording device writes, the second controlling device actuating an electrical contact arranged in circuit with a relay, the armature of which serves as pawl for a ratchet segment and is under the action of a spring, the ratchet sen ment carrying the recording device on an arm. and the arm working in conjunction with the said moving stop.

In witness whereof I aiiix my signature FRANZ MAURE 

